Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. Founder/Director

About Dr. Chan

Dr. Clayton Chan is a dental educator, trainer and consultant to dentists who span the globe from private practice to leading dental organizations. All attest to Dr. Chan's unique impact in the field of private practice, personal and organizational transformation and development.

Dr. Chan has shared platforms with leading authorities in the areas of occlusion, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, orthodontic/orthopedics and comprehensive restorative and continues to be a leader in advocating the use of objective measuring technologies to bring accountability to the clinical dental practice.

Occlusion Connections™ is designated as an Approved PACE Program Provider by the Academy of General Dentistry. The formal continuing dental education programs of this program provider are accepted by AGD for Fellowship/Mastership and membership maintenance credit. Approval does not imply acceptance by a state or provincial board of dentistry or AGD endorsement. The current term of approval extends from 9/1/2016 to 8/31/2020. Provider ID# 349336.

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Welcome to OC

A new understanding is required of today’s dentist to grasp underlying factors that relates clinical dentistry to both the gnathic and neuromuscular principles. This journey is a blended process that brings an in depth understanding with clinical experience. Together with excellence based on honesty, respect, discipline and courage these organic concepts will come together in both skilled clinical application and bio-physiologic science. This is GNM.

Finding a Qualified GNM Dentist

Disclosure:
It is the responsibility of each patient to ask the right questions in order to determine whether a dentist is qualified to meet your particular dental needs. Dentist have varying degrees of knowledge, experience, training and skills. Occlusion Connections™ is not responsible for the diagnostic and clinical decision making that each dentist makes when treating their patients.

The dentist listed on this map have taken varying levels of OC courses. It is your responsibility to determine if each one is qualified to treat and help meet your particular needs.

Ear Congestion feelings or clogged ears can be related to mal alignment of the lower jaw – the bite. Patients suffering from craniomandibular disorders often complain of hearing loss, fullness in the ears, and hyperacusis (hypersensitivity to sounds). Eustachian tube dysfunction is often involved.

There is causal relationships that has been absent in dental and medical literature, yet correction of a craniomandibular disorder often eliminates the aforementioned ear complaints. Naturally some folks in the medical and dental community do not always agree. Although controversial, most anatomic and physiologic evidence supports the belief that the tensor veli palatini muscles is solely responsible for active tubal dilation on swallowing.

Eustachian Tube Dysfunction

Three functions of the eustachian tube are:

Aeration

Clearance

Protection of the middle ear

Normally the eustachian tube is closed, open only when there is positive pressure in the nasopharynx or by muscle action of the tensor veli palatini, levator palatini, or salpingopharyngeous.

The tensor veli palatini muscle is innervated by a segment of the trigeminal nerve. When this small muscle is stimulated the effect of such excitation can be muscular contraction. When deep somatic pains occur from temporalis, masseter and medial pterygoid muscles contract, the effects can also spread causing the lumen of the eustachien tube to remain patent at rest and pressure from the nasopharynx to be transmitted to the middle ear. Patients complain of fullness or pressure feelings (autophony) and their voices sound hallow (like talking in a drum or echo chamber). Hearing, however, is unaltered.

Chronic contracture of the medial pterygoid can impair normal funciton of the tensor veli palitini muscles as it descends vertically between the medial pterygoid plate and pterygoid muscle and can be entrapped when the medial pterygoid is in dysfunction, preventing normal dilation of the eustachien tube lumen.

This results in an inability to equalize the middle and outer ear pressure. Patients may complain of pain in rapidly descending airplanes and when scuba diving. This explains why many TMD patients who complain of ear pain, fullness, and /or pressure are relieved of symptoms following successful treatment and use of a well designed mandibular orthotic.